This year, it is Raif Badawi -- jailed, publicly lashed, and fined for standing up to the Saudi monarchy -- who is nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize, alongside his also-imprisoned lawyer and brother-in-law Waleed Abulkhair.

The Al Jazeera TV news organization that began in Qatar missed a great opportunity when it started Al Jazeera America (AJAM), using the cable channel it bought from ex-Vice President Al Gore's Current TV.

The founding head of Al Jazeera America has been unceremoniously demoted, and a trusted face from the older Al Jazeera English put in his stead. Yet this is not the main issue. As it happens, we all have a stake in a stronger, better, trusted Al Jazeera service.

For the United States and many other foreign leaders around the world, from Great Britain to Australia, this sentence was a vivid reminder of Egypt's grotesque reality: that of a country dominated by the military, where the right to a fair trial, a free press, and free expression are blatantly crushed.